1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to connectors for fiber optic cables.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, various arrangements have been devised for a connectable and disconnectable fiber optic cable connector. One prior art example of such a connector is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,015.
One of the more significant problems in designing and building fiber optic cable connectors is that of maintaining adequate lateral alignment in two orthogonal coordinates in the plane of abutment at the light-transmissive interface between fiber optic cables so connected.
In preparing fiber optic cable ends for installation into a connector body, it is common practice to terminate the end of the cable in a ferrule or termination pin, which provides a manageable fiber-end retainer. After a cable has been secured in such a device, the ends of the optical fibers may be optically polished to enhance the quality of the light-transmissive interface.
Concerning the problem of lateral alignment as aforementioned, there have been various approaches to that problem. One such approach is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,734,494. In that patent, a sleeve of elastomer material is axially compressed and expands radially inward to hold the lateral alignment of the cable ends to be connected. An improvement on this general concept is described in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 613,053, filed Sept. 15, 1975 (assigned to the Assignee of the present application). Still further, another connector arrangement for fiber optic cables which addresses the lateral alignment problem is described in U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 629,004 filed Nov. 5, 1975 abandoned in favor of continuation-in-part application Ser. No. 682,274 filed May 3, 1976 (both assigned to the Assignee of the present application).
In general, the elastomer alignment sleeve is less likely to provide an accurate and repeatable lateral alignement than provided by a solid metallic alignment device. Still further, it is important that the fiber optic connectors not only perform well and repeatably, but also that they be economically manufactured. Many of the fiber optic connectors of the prior art have been deficient in respect to one or both of these criteria.
The manner in which the present invention improves on the state of the fiber optic connector art will be understood as this description proceeds.